Fearless Leader have quietly crafted a very interesting extended play with
Half Dead EP; it's plainly obvious there is a copious amount of influences that rear their head on these four songs. Angular guitars explode alongside propulsive drumming and impassioned yelling one minute, and then slow, atmospheric guitar lines are sending the songs into a beautiful, controlled lull just a few seconds later. With post-rock, screamo, and math rock being the main draws of inspiration for this quartet, the depth of the songwriting becomes immediately apparent on opener "Half Dead". Fall of Troy-esque riffs pepper the first half of the song, and a slower section builds up to ethereal tapping, tapering off to a odd and off-kilter ending. Fearless Leader show through this first song that they are not only willing to wear their influences (Fear Before, Tera Melos) on their collective sleeve, but also unabashedly take those influences and still make incredibly original music. Every song follows the pattern of combining fast-paced, frenetic passages and solemn, epic parts. The technical aspect could have had the band stumbling over themselves, but Fearless Leader never overdo it; the technical guitar-noodling never sounds too discordant or harsh, and the slower aspects of the songs always progress steadily enough to not be boring in any way. Stand-out track "Hollows" starts out very strong, reminiscent of the more pensive moments of accomplished bands Circle Takes the Square and Funeral Diner. Vocalist Patrick Mclean takes care to emote and enunciate plainly when the instruments are more hushed, but also doesn't shy away from matching the chaotic intensity of the instruments with energetic screaming.
Lyrically speaking, these four songs are powerful; until, that is, you find out that they are four tracks all based upon actor Bruce Willis. The upside to this is after scouring the lyrics myself (which are still very good, mind you), I couldn't really discern how these songs pertained to the actor. Either way, there aren't many negatives to this releases at all. Half Dead EP gives the listener about fifteen minutes of truly quality music that takes you through twists and turns that normally aren't thrown together, and it certainly makes Fearless Leader all the more unique because of it. While not an inherently bad thing, the short run time leaves a bit more to be desired. "Kid Charlemagne" isn't quite as strong as the rest of album, as it drags a bit and isn't as interesting as its counterparts. Overall, this is a band that has accomplished creating a very sonically interesting EP while still flying
well under the radar. If Fearless Leader continue to put out such strong material, it won't be for much longer; check out
Half Dead EP and rejoice in the passion and vast array of influences that they bring to the table. They must be doing something right if they had as much fun creating this as I did listening to it.
